Method of inserting a seal in a face-cut groove

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a method of and a device for enabling the insertion of a sealing element into a face-cut groove with a minimum of time and effort, together with the accuracy and quality required. This particularly has to do with practical field maintenance of seals while eliminating all problems usually encountered during installation of prior insertable seals. This is accomplished by means of a fixture which holes the seal element by means of an applied vacuum, and the utilization of the fixture to insert the seal element into a groove quickly and accurately.

United States Patent J elinek et al.

[ 1 Oct. 3, 1972 [54] METHOD OF INSERTING A SEAL IN A FACE-CUT GROOVE[72] Inventors: Jerry G. Jelinek, Whittier; Edward Reinsch, PalosVerdes, both of [58] Field of Search ..29/451, 450, 453, 235; 269/21;277/1; 220/46 R; 51/235 2,715,300 8/1955 Dorner ..51/235 X 2,763,055 9/1956 Hardy ..29/450 2,778,072 1/ 1957 Palisca ..220/46 R UX 2,807,079 9/l 957 Josephson ..29/ 235 2,924,008 2/1960 Haushalter ..29/450 UX3,289,286 12/1966 Belanger ..29/450 UX 3,581,379 6/1971 Drobilits..29/450 Primary Examiner-Charlie T. Moon Att0rney-Diller, Brown, Ramik& Holt 7 [57] ABSTRACT This invention relates to a method of and adevice for enabling the insertion of a sealing elementinto a facecutgroove with a minimum of time and effort, together with the accuracy andquality required. This particularly has to do with practical fieldmaintenance of seals while eliminating all problems usually encoun- [56]References Cited tered during installation of prior insertable seals.This UNITED STATES PATENTS is accomplished by means of a fixture whichholes the seal element by means of an applied vacuum, and the 1,839,429H1932 weaver "29/453 UX utilization of the fixture to insert the sealelement into 2,276,542 3/ 1942 Kovanda ..29/235 UX a groove quickly andaccurately 2,443,987 6/1948 Morrison et al. ..269/21 2,462,493 2/ 1949l-lamer ..220/46 R X 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures METHOD OF INSERTING ASEAL IN A FACE-CUT GROOVE This invention relates in general to new anduseful improvements in means of and apparatus for inserting seals inface-cut grooves.

The ultimate in reliability for face-type sealing is a molded-in-placeseal wherein the seal element is physically molded directly into agroove. However, the fact that the seal element is directly molded inplace has proven disadvantageous when the seal element is to be placed.For example, when it is desired to place the seal element in an aircraftdoor, it is necessary to remove the door and perform the sealreplacement remote from the aircraft. From a practical standpoint, thisnecessitates a large stock of replacement doors. This problem hasexisted for many years notwithstanding continuous requests for a betterseal arrangement.

The obvious solution to the problem is the insertion of prior moldedseal element into the groove. However, heretofore many formidableproblems have been encountered in the installation of such seal elementswhich include the following:

1. Accurate location of the seal element in the groove.

2. Limited or obscured accessibility.

3. Seals with irregular cross sectional shape (other than simplecircular or rectangular shapes) pose severe installation problems.

4. Bunching or stretching of the seal element when large peripheraloverall lengths are involved.

5. Excessive time required in placing the seal element.

6. Danger of pinching a portion of the seal element that is not entirelyengaged within the groove.

7. Difficulty of holding the seal element in place after insertion whenadhesive is required, particularly. when room must be left in the grooveto allow for deflection of the seal element.

8. Contoured or curved surfaces present a distinct hold down problemduring installation of seal elements.

9. Seals with intersecting lines of contact of seal elements are verydifficult, if not impossible, to achieve even with usual insertable typeseal elements.

It is particularly pointed out here, that because of the above listedproblems, not only may pinching occur or the location of the seal in itsgroove be improper, but, the seal element may fall out of the grooveentirely and the member replaced without the sealing element beingpresent without being detected by the installer.

Because of the above listed problems, it is proposed to install andreplace seal elements in face cut grooves by providing a fixture whichis particularly contoured to effect the initail shaping of a sealelement in accordance with the groove and while the outline of the sealelement is maintained, utilizing the fixture to forcibly place the sealelement in the groove.

It is proposed that the outline of the seal element be maintained byholding the seal element in place on the fixture through vacuum andafter the seal element has been positioned in the groove, forciblyseparating the seal element and the fixture by applying fluid pressure.

It is further proposed that the seal element be of a generally T-shapecross section and that the fixture have a rib which conforms generallyto the outline of the groove and which rib has a groove formed thereinin which the projecting portion of the seal element is received andwherein the projecting portion may be drawn down into the groove of therib to transversely distort the seal element and reduce the width of theexposed surface of the seal element to facilitate the initial movementof the seal element into the groove into which it is to be placed.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by referenceto the following detailed description, the appended claims and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a member to be sealed in accordance with thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary schematic view showing a typical sealinstallation.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modified form of sealinstallation.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary schematic perspective view showing the generaldetails of a fixture and the initial relationship of its seal elementthereto.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 and shows the seal element containedin place on the fixture ready for installation into a groove.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view taken through the fixture and themember of FIG. 1 and shows a seal element being applied.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, in FIG. 1 there is shown atypical member 10 which is to be sealed relative to other structure. Themember 10 has a peripheral groove 11.

Member 10 (FIG. 2) is provided with a seal element 12 placed in groove11. Seal element 12 is preferably T-shaped in section and includes abase 13 which is fully seated in groove 11 and a projecting portion 14in the form of a bead or stem which projects above the surface of themember 10 for engagement with and compression by a companion member (notshown) to facilitate the sealing of the two members.

Base 13 of seal element 12 is of a width to be snugly received in groove11 so as to facilitate the retention of seal element 12 in groove 11.However, a seal element, such as seal element 15 may have a base ofslightly lesser width than groove 11 and is held in place by means ofsuitable adhesive 16 (FIG. 3).

It is pointed out here that when there is interference fit between sealelement 12 and groove 1 1, base 13 may have a width of from 5 to 15percent greater than the width of groove 11. On the other hand, withseal element 15 where the base thereof is narrower than groove 11, thewidth differential may be on the order 0.005 to 0.015 inch.

In order to facilitate the ready insertion of seal elements 12 and 15, afixture, generally identified by the numeral 20, is provided. Fixture 20has an upstanding rib 21 of a contour corresponding to the contour ofgroove 11, but slightly narrower than groove 11. Rib 21 is generallyU-shaped in transverse section and is provided with a centrally locatedcontinuous groove 22. Groove 22 has opening thereinto a plurality ofports 23 connected to a central passage 24 by individual passages 25(FIGS. 5 and 6).

Passage 24 is coupled to a control valve 26 for selectively applying topassage 24 a vacuum or fluid pressure and venting passage 24. Also, asshown in FIG. 6, fixture 20 may be provided with aligning pins 27engageable with member to align fixture and the seal element carriedthereby with member 10.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it will be seen that groove 22 is of a greaterdepth than projecting portion 14 whereby when a vacuum is drawn ingroove 22 seal element 12 is distorted in transverse section and theexposed surface'of base 13 is temporarily decreased in width to be lessthan the width of groove 11. This facilitates the entry of seal element12 into groove 11 notwithstanding the interference fit therebetween.

Seal elements are mechanically forcible into groove 11 by fixture 20utilizing rib 21, as shown in FIG. 6. After a seal element has beenplaced in groove 11, the seal element, such as seal element 12, isseparated from fixture 20 by applying fluid pressure into groove 22.This also assures firm seating of the seal element in the groove 11.

It is to be understood that fixture 20 can be transported anywhere andin any position without danger of dislodging seal elements. If anadhesive need be applied, this operation can be conveniently performedwhile the seal element is held inverted in fixture 20. Fixture 20 may beutilized to hold the seal element in place until the adhesive has set.In addition, since fixture 20 is automatically alignable with the memberto which seal elements are to be applied, accuracy of alignment of sealelement and positioning thereof is assured. Further, since a sealelement may be loosely aligned with groove 21 of fixture 20 underreadily accessible conditions, the usual gathering, bunching orstretching of seal elements is eliminated.

It is also pointed out here that a fill relationship of 90 percent orbetter between the total volume of the seal element as compared to thetotal volume of groove 11 should be maintained for providing effectiveseals.

Although a seal element having a T-shaped cross section is preferred, itis to be understood that this invention is not so limited and that minorvariations may be made in both the fixture and the method of installingthe seal element without departing from the spirit and scope of thisinvention, as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method of applying a seal element in a facecut groove comprisingthe steps of conforming the seal element to the outline of the groove,utilizing a vacuum and retaining the outline of the seal, whileretaining the outline of the seal element aligning the seal element withthe groove, and thereafter inserting the seal element into the groove.

2. The method of claim 1 with said seal element insertion being at leastin part accomplished by fluid pressure.

3. The method of claim 1 with the seal element being transverselydeformed by the action of the vacuum thereon to temporarily reduce thewidth of that surface thereof to be placed in a groove therebyfacilitating the insertion of the seal element.

4. A method of applying a T-cross sectional seal element in a facecutgroove of a component wherein said groove is of a configuration otherthan a straight line configuration, said method comprising the steps ofproviding a seal element inserting member and forming thereon a,rojection of the same configuration as the groove Wl e pro ection alsohaving a groove therein, conforming the seal element to the outline ofsaid projection and seating the seal element on the pro jection with aportion of the seal element being received in the groove of theprojection, aligning the projection with the facecut groove whileretaining the seal element on the projection in alignment therewith, andthen utilizing the projection inserting the seal element into thefacecut groove in seating relation.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the projection is narrower than thefacecut groove and with the projection being inserted in the facecutgroove in the positioning of the seal element.

6. The method of claim 4 together with the step of drawing a vacuumwithin the projection groove and thereby effecting said maintaining ofthe seal element in alignment with the projection.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the projection groove is deeper thanthat portion of the seal element received therein, and with the appliedvacuum being sufficiently great to draw the seal element into theprojection groove and temporarily transversely deforming the sealelement and reducing the seal element thereby facilitating the insertionof the seal element in the facecut groove.

1. A method of applying a seal element in a facecut groove comprisingthe steps of conforming the seal element to the outline of the groove,utilizing a vacuum and retaining the outline of the seal, whileretaining the outline of the seal element aligning the seal element withthe groove, and thereafter inserting the seal element into the groove.2. The method of claim 1 with said seal element insertion being at leastin part accomplished by fluid pressure.
 3. The method of claim 1 withthe seal element being transversely deformed by the action of the vacuumthereon to temporarily reduce the width of that surface thereof to beplaced in a groove thereby facilitating the insertion of the sealelement.
 4. A method of applying a T-cross sectional seal element in afacecut groove of a component wherein said groove is of a configurationother than a straight line configuration, said method comprising thesteps of providing a seal element inserting member and forming thereon aprojection of the same configuration as the groove with the projectionalso having a groove therein, conforming the seal element to the outlineof said projection and seating the seal element on the projection with aportion of the seal element being received in the groove of theprojection, aligning the projection with the facecut groove whileretaining the seal element on the projection in alignment therewith, andthen utilizing the projection inserting the seal element into thefacecut groove in seating relation.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein theprojection is narrower than the facecut groove and with the projectionbeing inserted in the facecut groove in the positioning of the sealelement.
 6. The method of claim 4 togetheR with the step of drawing avacuum within the projection groove and thereby effecting saidmaintaining of the seal element in alignment with the projection.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the projection groove is deeper than thatportion of the seal element received therein, and with the appliedvacuum being sufficiently great to draw the seal element into theprojection groove and temporarily transversely deforming the sealelement and reducing the seal element thereby facilitating the insertionof the seal element in the facecut groove.